When I saw they were made in eps I thought it was interesting. I had a look on a website, zak I think, and there is no adjustment made for the eps foam by the looks. So no reduction in thickness etc. I like foam but that just seems way too much, especially considering they're eps. They'd be pretty floaty I imagine.

we are the angry mob
We read the papers everyday
We like who we like, we hate who we hate
But we're also easily swayed

surfywurfy wrote:ive read 3 different reports so far and all are very positive,GM has shaped the plugs slightly thinner than what he puts in his poly boards.this compensates for the extra float of the poxys

Slightly thinner? The ones I looked at were still 3" thick. That's pretty nuts for an eps board surely?

we are the angry mob
We read the papers everyday
We like who we like, we hate who we hate
But we're also easily swayed

ah! The plugs- the copies, i get it. Yep - 3 inches thick and to the rail was always too much board for me, all the way down to the 5'6 i owned. I can't see too much difference in foil? Maybe this new eps is more like PU?

I suppose my main question is, what is the biaxial glass & epoxy like is it "really" stronger & lighter than a normal layup. You would think that if McCoy & the other shapers have had their input into the machining of the blanks they are happy with the results. I gotta admit,in Mccoys case, I wouldn't think one of these boards would last as long as the ones coming out of his factory, but the trade off is a lighter, more bouyant (is that correct) board that you can remove/change fins on & it makes it easier to travel.

Heard good reports about the performance and the durability of these boards.......I know Geoff went to great lengths to get these boards right before he allowed the company to release them. He wasn't satisfied with the first ones they sent him.

One of my pet hates as a construction method used to be epoxy over a polystyrene blank, the weakness of the construction was why builders went to the much more complex vacuum bagged "sandwich".

When surftech brought out their TL2 construction I groaned with disgust. They were around for a few years so I finally bought one thinking they must be OK. They weren't; knee, toe and hand depressions from my very first surf, and yellowing within months.

So when the TSA boards came out I was not impressed. But I was attracted by a reasonably light, 6'6 McCoy with removable fins for $800. Nevertheless, I waited to see if there was any feedback on their durability.

After 6 months or so I hadn't heard anything, bad or good, so I though fcuk it, dents and yellowing are just part of the price I'll have to pay, so I got a McCoy 6'6 in Jan this year. To cut the story short, I now own five; I've been in Indonesia most of this year with them, usually surfing twice a day and taking numerous plane trips.

There is not a single depression or scratch on any of my TSA boards, and they are still so blindingly white that I look (more) like a kook with brand new boards. I'm amazed, especially as as I ride high volume boards and use my knee to duck dive 'em; even my epoxy sandwich boards used to get deck depressions from duck diving and also from careless baggage handlers.

I don't know how they have managed to achieve this durability and don't know if the construction process will continue to produce so durable a product (this is one reason that I bought a pile of them from that particular batch).

Proven to be a very versatile performer in a wide range of wave conditions from 1′ ~ 8′ all around the surfing world; thicker wider and shorter with more volume and buoyancy than you have had before, easy to paddle and catch waves, easy to control, with more speed than you have had in years! When it starts to barrel, you will be laughing.”
Geoff McCoy

Apparently they go surprisingly well in hollow conditions.
Personally I wouldn't be paddling something that thick and wide out into large hollow waves regardless of how it might go if you actually got out the back on it. Definitely has his devotees.

I don't know El Rancho. They seem to be pretty well panned by everyone in the industry, except though, for the people who have actually ridden one. But maybe there is a comparison in that they are both easy to ride and suit a wide range of conditions, albeit by using completely different design features.